STE: The Logical Choice
by ZenosParadox
Summary: RS friendship. Reed and Sato discuss the wisp possession. Coda for the Crossing, Season 2.


Title: The Logical Choice   
  
Author: ZenosParadox   
  
Rating: PG   
  
Summary: R/S friendship. Reed and Sato discuss the wisps. An epilogue to the Crossing, Season 2.   
  
Disclaimer: The character names belong to Paramount. This fiction was written solely for personal enjoyment.   
  
THE LOGICAL CHOICE   
  
Lieutenant Malcolm Reed was riding on the exercise bicycle in the gym as if he were being chased by demons. It was 0100 and the man had been unable to find sleep. He had read the report detailing the behaviors of various crewmembers who had been possessed by wisps. As head of security, he had been given the comprehensive report that only the Captain and First Officer saw. The rest of the Senior staff had seen an abridged report of the wisp-possession. Lucky them.   
  
Ensign Hoshi Sato entered quietly. The exercise bicycle was making so much noise as it hummed along that she was able to approach the Armory Officer unnoticed since he had his eyes closed. She bit her lip as she considered her next course of action, but the report she had seen had only offered the barest details of her behavior during possession by the wisp. Sato knew that Reed was privy to the full report. She approached him cautiously.   
  
"I hate to tell you this, but there's no way you're making it back for the Tour de France, Lieutenant."   
  
A smile broke onto Reed's face as he opened his eyes and slowed his demonic pedaling. Hoshi Sato was a delight to have as a comrade. Her presence was like the North Star that had guided his ship as he had sailed the high seas in his fantasies.   
  
"Good point, Ensign. I'll try for the Marathon instead," Reed said as he stepped off. He went through his cool down maneuvers as Sato spoke again.   
  
"I couldn't get any sleep tonight, either. I've been bothered by what I read in the report. I don't like what my body was doing when the wisp was inside me," said Sato. She made no pretense of warming up for her exercises. "I spoke with Phlox after I read that we'd had a 'physical' encounter, but he just smiled and said everything was fine."   
  
Sato had her hands in a tangle and looked like a little girl at the moment. Reed asked quietly, "You want to know what happened between your wisp and Phlox, don't you?"   
  
Sato nodded her head and waited patiently. Reed owed her nothing, but she thought he had come to see her as a friend. She didn't want him to transgress on his own moral code, but surely he would understand her interest.   
  
"Ensign, it would be inappropriate for me to let you see the full report," began Reed.   
  
"I know, Lieutenant. I wouldn't ask that of you. I was wondering if you were up to a game of twenty questions, though. Does that sound reasonable?" Sato's eyes were warm as she looked at him. Trust. The message was clear.   
  
"All right, but we best find a private place for this game. We don't want anyone overhearing us."   
  
"I've got some tea I can brew in my quarters. How about that?"   
  
----   
  
"So I faked an injury and attacked Phlox when he came to my quarters," said Hoshi as she ended her twenty questions. She took a last sip of her tea and put her cup down.   
  
Malcolm didn't verify her logic, he merely said, "Your security training has been going well. I'd say you left your wisp with some basic tools at its disposal."   
  
"I feel just terrible about this. I know it wasn't me, but what could be worse than attacking a crewmate like that?" Hoshi turned to Malcolm for sympathy, but he was nervously rubbing his thumb against his lip, a gesture she had not previously witnessed.   
  
Malcolm looked at Hoshi and felt conflicted. The Captain had spoken to the two women in the corridor his wisp had leered at. That move had effectively quashed the gossip, but Malcolm had still read the full details of their encounter. Worse, T'Pol had been able to report verbatim the entire episode of his wisp's invasion of her quarters. His one relief had been that he had not approached Hoshi while possessed by the wisp.   
  
"Malcolm? I know you were possessed, too. What is it? What could be worse than what I did to Phlox? You didn't attack anyone, did you?"   
  
"Luckily, no. The good thing is that my wisp wound up seeking the one woman on Enterprise who could defend herself against me if the need arose." Malcolm couldn't look Hoshi in the eyes at the moment.   
  
Hoshi began nodding as his words sunk in. Malcolm's wisp was seeking women. Why? She saw him cup his forehead with his hands as she came to her own revelation. The wisp had accosted T'Pol? She asked very gently, "Malcolm, how far did it get? Did the wisp actually try to force you--itself on T'Pol?"   
  
"No, luckily my wisp had the lamest pick-up lines and the lousiest sense of timing," said Malcolm sardonically.   
  
Hoshi started to chuckle and Malcolm felt the relief wash over him as he finally saw some humor instead of utter disgust at the scenario. He looked up at Hoshi to see her bright smile and warm eyes. Thank God his wisp hadn't gone after Hoshi! He wouldn't be able to bear it if she spent the rest of their mission looking at him with suspicion.   
  
Malcolm voiced his next thoughts, "T'Pol seems undisturbed by the whole encounter. She quickly realized it wasn't me and contacted the Captain."   
  
"But it bothers you that your wisp had lecherous intentions?"   
  
"Hoshi, that's exactly what bothers me. Get me drunk on shore leave and I'm as bad as the next man. Can you imagine if I'd ambushed one of the other women on board? The thought scares me. What if I had gone to Cutler's quarters--or yours!"   
  
The consternation was clearly on Malcolm's face, so Hoshi leaned forward to put a comforting hand on his arm. "Malcolm, I know about feeling guilty. Even though it wasn't me who attacked Phlox, I still feel responsible. I decided I'd help out in sickbay during my free time as a--a penance. He says it's unnecessary, but I felt better as soon as I made up my mind to do it."   
  
Malcolm looked at his crewmate and felt the blessing her presence bestowed. She was handling the aftermath of the wisp possession with a mature attitude. Perhaps he should do the same.   
  
"I don't know what I could do for T'Pol. She's so self-sufficient. I tried apologizing to her and you know what she said to me?" Malcolm realized he wanted Hoshi's opinion, an affirmation that T'Pol wasn't trying to merely be evasive.   
  
Hoshi knew that Malcolm's question was rhetorical, but she was able to give the correct response on her own. It would be obvious, wouldn't it? "T'Pol probably told you that she was the logical choice for the wisp."   
  
"Yes. How did you know?" asked Malcolm. Was this women's intuition? Or had T'Pol confided in Hoshi?   
  
"Malcolm, your training for assuring the safety of the ship and its crew is deeply ingrained, isn't it?"   
  
"I would hope so. I know the rest of you may think I'm paranoid at times, but it's more than my job. It's as much a part of me as eating and sleeping. It's like your love of languages is with you," asserted Malcolm.   
  
"So, if any element of your security training remained, what woman on board this ship would be safest with a wisp who wanted to experience carnal knowledge?"   
  
Malcolm considered this for a moment. "The safest target would be a woman who wouldn't be coerced because I outranked her. The woman who was physically strongest. The one who could recognize quickly that a wisp was in control."   
  
"And that's what happened. Simple logic."   
  
Malcolm laughed in disbelief. "You're trying to tell me that somehow my training pushed the wisp toward T'Pol?"   
  
"Can you tell me that it wasn't?"   
  
"Hoshi, it's not like I've never--never mind. If I say anything you'll just roll your eyes and say something about men only thinking with their lower anatomy."   
  
"You're afraid you went to T'Pol because you lust after her, Malcolm? Don't give me that look! I swear, I'd probably have the men on this ship drooling after me, too, if I had that uniform."   
  
"You do quite well without it, Ensign," assured Malcolm before he could stop himself. When would he learn to bite his tongue when he was around Hoshi?   
  
"Um, thank you, I think. Malcolm, I've had fantasies about several men that I work with. Do you only have fantasies about T'Pol? Are you saying you're in love with her?"   
  
"Good heavens, no! And I don't know where the wisp got the idea she was the most attractive female on the ship! That's certainly not what I think, not now anyway," said Malcolm, but stopped himself before he went further. Some things were best left unsaid, especially when the woman was not only your subordinate, but also your friend.   
  
"It wasn't us, Malcolm. The wisps did what they wanted with our bodies; we're just lucky no permanent damage was done. Maybe the reason no one got hurt too badly was that there was just enough of our subconscious left to protect our crew."   
  
Malcolm was eager to believe in Hoshi's words, but knew it would take time for him to absorb them fully. Instead, his mind turned to the practical suggestion she had made. "So, what can I do for T'Pol?"   
  
Hoshi thought for a moment. "The next time you're in the snow, don't make a Vulcan snowman and blow it up."   
  
Malcolm had to smile at her teasing voice. He remembered being on the comet with Travis and the smile he had cut into the form to go with the pointed ears. "I'll remember that."   
  
"Why don't you invite her to join us for lunch once in a while. I think she actually enjoys it, but feels like she may be intruding on us. Come on, we're good when we gang up on people. Picking on Travis and Trip is getting a little old. We need some fresh meat, a new victim."   
  
"It's a deal," said Malcolm as he extended his hand to Hoshi.   
  
"Deal," she echoed as they shook hands.   
  
Their hands remained clasped for a moment before Malcolm rose and said, "Good night, Hoshi."   
  
It was the logical choice.   
  
*****  
  
Author Notes:  
  
Written April 15, 2003, 3 pages, and posted at LD.  
  
Thanks for reading. No reviews are necessary. 


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